Essay on "Torts That Have Been Developed"

Essay 4 pages (1254 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

This element may come into play when someone fails to have some reasonable care when engaging in activities that may harm others. The other element that may be used to defend an act as a negligence tort is that of 'breach of duty'. This means that the liability of negligence may not be provided unless the claimant proves that he/she was to be protected but the defendant failed to do so. For instance, a doctor who left the operation room without leaving the patient in a stable condition to come back when the patient had passed on, may be accused of negligence (Lynch, 2012).

Thirdly, some elements have also been established for defense in case a given civil act falls under strict liability tort. The first element that has been established is that of 'ultra-hazardous activity.' It may be argued out that someone engages in a dangerous activity and should face the liability regardless of whether whatever happened with reasonable precaution or not. The second element that of 'product liability' a company/business may be held liable for injuries caused by its products (Lynch, 2012).

The chosen tort of battery/beating in the year 1991 involved Rodney's (a black American) arrest on 3rd march, 1991. What happened was that Rodney was seen over speeding on the 210 freeway by officers. King took them by storm and led them on a chase up to 110 to 115 mph. He finally stopped, but refused to get into the prone position, and seemed to react towards one of the officers. He was beaten thoroughly by the police and arrested.

The background of this case comes at a time when acts of racism and racial prejudice were largely pronounced among state officers. Rodney had committed various offenses initially and beaten excessively. While defending himself at the court, he said he over-sped because he feared going back into police custody. He faced felony charges, which were later dropped. The footage of his beating was aired globally. It created a lot of outrage in many American cities with high racial tension and increased publicity about police prejudice in the treatment of minorities. Later on, three of the officers were found guilty of physical attacks and using excess force on arrested individuals. Under normal circumstances, state officers are only expected to pronounce Miranda laws to the arrested individuals. Excessive force can only and only when an individual resists arrest or become violent after arrest. The force used should is only for containing the person and not expected to cause any harm (Allen, 2011).

The first element of this tort shows that it was an intentional tort was the aspect of battery/beatings. The footages aired showed Rodney being beaten, and excessive force being used by them. The other fit element is that the police were armed with weapons and that he had stopped, meaning they would have otherwise just arrested him, but they took an intentional act of beating him thoroughly. This situation was not the first one, for the police had beaten him on other accounts committed earlier. There was sufficient evidence that Rodney was thoroughly beaten by the police, before being arrested. It was established that his main problem was alcohol that made him engage in a number of offenses; however, the act of beating him by use of excessive force was enough evidence to prove that the officers committed an intentional tort. The court held them liable for assault and use of excess force.

References

Allen, D. (2011). The Evolution of Criminal Law and Police during the Pre-modern. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, v. 27, Issue 3, pp. 540-67.

Dempsey, F. (2011). An Introduction to Policing. London: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Lloyd, L. (2005). Introduction to… READ MORE

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